The Heart of Hellsing
by Shaoli
Summary: This will be about Integra, but it will also be about Alucard, and Walter, and Celes Victoria, and all those tied to her, and the effects of her influence. Yes, I've scrapped the old fic.


_Hellsing and its characters don't belong to me, etc. etc. Not like you could sue me for much, anyway._

_What will you find here? How do duty and obligation really weigh upon our Maiden of Steel? What of her and her demon knight? What of family? What of faith? What of love? ... Why does she _smile_ so much? Bit of a warning, things could get a tad confusing if you haven't seen BOTH the manga and the anime. The characters are a melding of both as i like them best._

_It also appears that I have confused myself, because i've had to rewrite this chapter after its first release, so that its former inconsistencies with the way i've come to see Alucard specifically doesn't drive me crazy._

_Also, and this reason is a simpler one, my first attempt sucked._

**Chapter One: Invitation**

The firing range was empty, immaculate despite the smell of gunpowder which lingered about it always. The men had learned early on that their leader tolerated no sloppiness in any part of the vast Hellsing complex, even while training for the business of killing and destruction.

_Especially_ in the business of killing and destruction. Someone had paid in blood (quite literally) the last time an information leak had occurred while they carried out their gruesome duty.

The willful sacrifice of human life was a normal affair. This included and would include all who got in the way of the Hellsing mission, from the lowest soldier to the faithful Walter, to Integra herself. Protecting the ignorant masses of Britain was not the most significant part of the Hellsing creed. Theirs was to destroy the undead. Let the rest of the Knights look after the why.

Integra donned the earmuffs absently, a familiar, fluid action requiring no thought, the protective headgear settling comfortably over flowing, pale gold hair. She didn't pause to adjust them, didn't need to, and set about replacing the expensive mercury ignition bullets in her pistol with lead rounds more suited to be spent on the practice range, her physical self keeping time with a mind that refused to be quiet.

_Excuses._ No matter how pathetic that one woman's soul and how little she, with her weak ideals and blind, deluded self-righteousness, represented in Integra's sight, killing her had been a transgression of prideful faithlessness. But how _dare such insignificant, lowly filth think to vilify Hellsing for her own glory? Who did she think she was that she could uproot so old and established a power, built on the labour of generations past? And all to gratify the perverse hankerings of the common rabble for a glimpse of the sensationalized, fantastical horrors happening to someone else, horrors they thought would never reach their safe, sheltered doorsteps. __What right had they?_

They knew nothing. _She_ had known _nothing_, and to have such accusations placed upon the organization's honour in mindless ignorance had sparked a terrible and uncontainable rage within Integra's deepest heart. Before she had even given the verbal order, Alucard, knowing always what she wanted, had taken the chance to move in, his eagerness to feed fueling her decision.

Alucard, who she knew would never judge her for such an action. Not when she had raised her weapon against her murderous uncle, and not then. Such sins were insignificant to her demon, whose actions, in all appearance, answered to neither Heaven nor Hell.

But Integra knew who she really served, knew it even as she discarded the principles behind her loyalties, principles she should have obeyed despite pride and despite the welfare of her mission. That one small, yet horribly sacred life had not been hers to take! She knew, knew that it should not have been done and yet could never be undone, even as she gave the order. She might as well have drawn a gun herself and…

The first shot landed where all her shots would have landed, but before Integra could pull the trigger again the thin wooden target suddenly lost all of its top half in a muffled explosion of splinters and sawdust.

Unfaltering even in the aftermath of splintered wood and shattered thought, the barrel of Integra's gun switched position from horizontal to vertical in lightning reflex, pressing up under Alucard's chin. The indifferent expression formally on her chiseled features was now touched with mild irritation, irritation that had nothing to do with her next few words.

"You had better have a very good reason for wasting valuable ammunition, Alucard." Her cold blue stare burned with clear malevolence, but remained fixed on the empty space the shattered target had left behind. This was the first time in a long while she had allowed the vampire to sneak up to her unnoticed, and now and again it forced her to dwell on thoughts of his rebellion and her sure demise at his hand should he somehow break free of her control. The smoking barrel of his black Jackal rested on her shoulder, and though she successfully resisted the impulse to crinkle her nose at the stench of burning, her frown did deepen.

When he remained silent Integra turned her head upwards, glaring, face-to-face with his feral, self-satisfied grin. He was minus his ridiculous hat, though his eyes were hidden behind amber glass. His throaty response was loud in the soundproof chamber. "That looks like very good reason, to me."

The vampire was forced to spend the next ten seconds re-growing his right eye and realigning his jaw when Integra's gun went off, but afterward his smile was back like it had never gone. Integra didn't even check to see what damage her bullet had done, slamming her fist on the small control panel in front of her and reloading while the whir and click of unseen mechanisms brought a fresh target into place. Poise and show were an essential part of their game. 

He let her take two shots before doing it again, this time from the far wall. She didn't turn. 

The third time the wooden range target exploded before she even raised her pistol.

The look on her face was grim as she lowered her gun, only to shift her feet and point the weapon at Alucard, who had his lanky form propped lazily against the wall, an equally lazy expression on his face, his shades having slipped to the end of his nose. He cocked his weapon and imitated her pose, barrel still smoking. Integra didn't waver. She pulled the trigger.

And Alucard did not. Always this testing, in different ways on different grounds. It ought to wear a person down, especially a person who now rarely had her authority challenged by her subordinates. But for Integra…

_You taught me well, Alucard_. _You and dear Walter, who agrees with you more than he does with me, and I am not loathe to admit it._ Integra's dusky lips curled in a smile. The Seals that bound the vampire were not her strength, and would not become her downfall by instilling complacency. Alucard's constant challenges were fuel to the furnace that was the unstoppable spirit at the head of the Hellsing Organization. 

"What do you want?" she growled, though it was oddly devoid of any true malice. She slid the earmuffs from her white-gold head and watched with mild amusement as the small hole she'd blasted in the middle of Alucard's forehead healed itself with a sound like the hiss of dry sand.

"It used to take less to get your attention," his exaggerated pout was completely out of place in his angular face. This was Alucard, however. Absurdity was never beneath him, no matter that he remembered how to carry himself with an aristocrat's dignity when he wanted to. Rich with the memories and experiences of countless lifetimes, Alucard seemed drunk on a strange and limitless joy in just _being_.

It was sometimes so hard to remember that he was dead.

"You might like to try just asking for it next time." Advice he'd never take if he could help it.

"Point." A flash of white fangs. Guns were put away, and, since she had a servant present, Integra left Alucard to tidy up the rest of the gear. The vampire snapped his _gloved_ fingers, and as the locker floated shut Integra wondered if she could learn to do that. Snap her fingers effectively with her gloves on, that is. She did not find the carnival tricks very becoming.

Then again, Alucard probably cheated. Integra draped her arms idly across her waist as Alucard took his time letting her know exactly why he had interrupted her evening of recreation. Her fingers twitched, but she felt some small inclination, for once, to go a few moments without a cigar or a gun or a sheaf of documents in her hand. Alucard snapped his fingers again, and the lights dimmed. Integra tilted her head, her eyelids falling halfway, emanating impatience.

The ghastly orange shades came off, and in the semi-darkness his glowing sunset eyes were ethereal and inhuman and eerily splendid wells of changing, fiery colour. It was something Integra noted in passing.

"What _is_ it, Alucard?" he'd been waiting for that, hadn't he? 

"Walter and I haven't seen you all day," Alucard's long arms lifted, hands resting comically on his hips. "We've decided that your alone-time is over, now that you've put your work away, especially since you seem to have missed dinner. Walter's fixed a light supper for all of us."

"So in addition to the scuttling paperwork demons I've had to face all day, I now have to entertain you two?"

Alucard just grinned, and she knew she was missing something. It wasn't impossible to guess, so…

"Your police girl is coming too?"

"Sharp." The lights went out, and for a moment all that was visible were those blazing eyes. Integra allowed herself to be momentarily transfixed (but not distracted, never that), as light outlined and flooded the rectangle of the opening door. The darkness had held comfort when those eyes were there, back when waking hours spent learning amongst the violence and the macabre dealings of each mission came back in the dark to haunt a child who had to learn to be a soldier, and then a commander of soldiers. In those early years of strengthening and discovery, Alucard had only ever been her protector.

The vast corridor leading to the residential wing echoed with their footsteps, Alucard making far more noise with his buckles and leather and steel-capped boots, the sweep of his ostentatious trench coat a stark contrast from Integra's neat olive suit, making him seem to take up four times the space even if he was only a head taller. For no apparent reason, his inky hair suddenly writhed, shifted and changed from his favoured short tousled mop to a trailing banner of black silk.

"Made you look."

"Childish. How is Celes doing?"

"Who?"

Integra snorted, and Alucard grinned. "_Terribly. Useless little incompetent doesn't deserve to be called by name."_

"I thought she was doing quite well."

"Ah, but she's also listening…"

Integra noticed her as they neared the next arch in the stone corridor. She'd almost melded into that shadowed corner, but Celes didn't quite manage it with her bright clothes and brighter hair. She looked very tired from the effort, an attempt at harnessing some vampyric power despite her poor nourishment and general cluelessness. Alucard's offspring shuffled out, head down and apologetic, as there was little else she found proper to do in Integra's intimidating presence.

But to her momentary surprise Integra offered a small, but welcoming smile, and they continued down the hallway, Hellsing's leader in front, Celes trailing behind, taking little excited steps, eyes bright with expectation. This evening would undeniably be something special.

As they approached Integra's suite, the pale-haired woman reached into her pocket. Going to see Walter. Must be smoking cigar. Makes him fuss.

A deep chuckle from Alucard. Neither was sure if she'd learnt her subtle mischief off him. The heavy, polished doors swung open to a softly-lit, spacious room, full of warmth and the smell of good tea. In front of the fireplace was Hellsing's faithful retainer, stoking the crackling flames, whose dance was reflected in the glass of his monocle. Walter stood, straight and lithe, betraying much more than a lifetime of professional butlering. Quiet "good evening"s went around as Integra, Walter and Alucard came together around the blazing hearth.

To Celes Victoria, tied inexorably to each of them by a choice she had hardly understood, it was like watching three parts of a puzzle slide into place, hearing the scrape and click as a dangerous and powerful weapon was readied for use.

End Chapter.

_I like being a little different. Hellsing and the people who make up its heart is more than a system of hierarchies and cold, single-minded purpose. Integra cares, Walter cares, Alucard cares, and Celes will get to know the strange, almost family-like ties which span so many years._


End file.
